CBI begins probe into deaths of Walayar girls

PALAKKAD: A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team visited Walayar on Friday and recorded the statement of the mother of two teenage girls, who were found hanging at their residence on different dates in 2017.

Superintendent of Police, CBI, Nandakumaran Nair, and the investigation officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DYSP) TP Ananthakrishnan recorded the statement of the mother, who has been actively campaigning for a thorough investigation into the sensational case.

The CBI team inspected the shed adjacent to the deceased girls’ house where they had been found dead. The elder girl, aged 13, was found hanging from the beam on January 13, 2017, and her younger sister, aged nine, was found dead in the same manner on 4 March.

According to reports, the girls’ mother told officers that the younger girl had been murdered to prevent her from deposing as the key witness in her sister’s case.

Allegations were raised that both sisters were murdered ater sexual assault.

This is the first visit by the CBI sleuths to Walayar ater taking over the case that triggered many political storms in the state.

The investigators would record the statements of all concerned, including the sub-inspector of Walayar police, who had probed the case, and DYSP M J Sojan, who submited the charge sheet before the court.

The agency recorded the two deaths in separate first information reports.

The CBI took over the case ater a Kerala High Court order in March. The High Court had earlier cancelled the acquital of all the accused by the trial court.

Ater the acquital by the trial court, the girls’ mother demanded a CBI probe. In January this year state government had decided to hand over the case to the CBI.

Earlier, the state government had informed the court that it was not averse to a CBI investigation into the case. The petition seeking the CBI investigation into the case was moved by the victims’ mother.